Strip straightener



July 6, 1943. c. R. HANNA STRIP STRAIGHTENER Filed 001;. 23, 1941INVENTOR 672772022 /1?//a/7/20.

WITN ESSES:

ATTORNEY Patented July 6, 1943 STRIP STRAIGHTENER Clinton R. Hanna,Pittsburgh, Pa., assignor to Westinghouse Electric & ManufacturingCompany, East Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania ApplicationOctober 23, 1941, Serial No. i=16,183

4 Claims My invention relates, generally, to strip straighteners and,more particularly, to mechanisms which act upon a length of material asit is passed through the mechanism to remove any bends that might existin the length of material and deliver the length of material in astraight form.

Strip material which is used in the manufacture of certain structuresmust be as straight and free from bends as possible in order to functionproperly in the structure. When strip material is manufactured andpacked for shipment, it is usually wound upon a reel, and this windingimparts a curvature to the strip which must be removed before thestripcan be used in certain mechanisms.

It is an object of my invention, therefore, to provide a mechanism whichshall function-to remove bends from a length of material and deliver alength of material in straight form, which shall be simple and eflicientin operation and inexpensive to manufacture, install, operate, andmaintain.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing detailed description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view, partly broken away of a stripstraightener embodying the principal features of my invention; and

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line II-II of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III of Fig. 1.

In practicing the invention in one form thereof, I provide base members2 and 4 to which are attached, in any suitable manner, upright members 6and 8. A horizontal member 10 extends between and is attached to, in anysuitable -manner, the base members 2 and 4 and the upright members 6 and8.

A horizontal bar or support member l2 has one end rotatably mounted uponthe upright member 8 by means of a bolt l4 and is biased toward upwardmovement around its pivotal mounting by means of a coil spring member l6which has its ends attached to the bar member l2 and the upright member8, respectively. The other end of the bar member I2 is secured to ablockI8 by means of releasable latch means comprising a wing nut 28threadedly engaging a screwthreaded bolt 22 which extends through a slot24 in the bar member I2, an which is secured to the block l8.

A group of rollers 26 is arranged in a row along the bar I2 androtatably mounted thereon by means of bolt members 28. A similar groupof rollers 30 is mounted each by means of a bolt 32 on supporting arms34 in a row substantially parallel to the row of rollers 26, and instaggered relation therewith. The supporting arms 34 are, in turn,pivotally mounted upon the longitudinal member In by means of bolts 36.

A bar member 38 is pivotally mounted at one end upon the upright member8 by means of a bolt 40. The other end of the bar member 38 rests upon ablock 42. A group of elastic spring biasing members 44 is mounted on thebar member 38, each having its lower end engaged with a separate one ofthe bolts 32 and its upper end supported by a bolt 46 extending throughthe bar member 38 and provided with screw-threaded nuts. By turning thenuts on the upper ends of the bolts 43 the bolts may be moved up ordownto vary the tension of the springs .44. The ends of the support arms 34opposite those on which the rollers 30 are mounted are disposed toengage stop means or member 48, which are screw-threaded bolts engagingthe horizontal member 10 and ad: justable to limit the upward movementof the rollers 30 as desired.

A screw-threaded member 50 engages the block 42, has its lower endresting upon the block member 18, extends through the bar member 38, andis rotatably supported in a block member 52, which, in turn, is suitablysecured to the upright member 6. The screw member 58 may be rotated by asuitable handle 54 tothereby raise or lower the end of the bar member38, which, in turn, will vary the tension on the springs 44simultaneously. A pin member 56 is secured to the block member 42 andextends into an opening 51 in the bar member 38 to prevent rotation ofthe block member 42 when the screw member 50 is rotated. The pivotalsupport for the bar member 38 on the pright member 8 may be changed fromthe position in which it is shown in the drawing by inserting the bolt40 in either of the openings 58, which coincide with similar openings inthe upright member 8 to thereby vary the relative degrees of springtension variation by the movement of the bar member 38 as desired.

In the operation of the device, when it is desired to straighten a stripof material, the wing nut 20 may be loosened on the bolt 22 to therebyrelease the left-hand end of the bar member l2 and permit the springmember Hi to raise it so that the rollers 26 will be removed fromengagement with the rollers 38 whose upward movement by the springmembers 44 is limited by the stop members 48. The strip of material 60which is to be straightened may then be inserted between the spaced rowsof rollers, and the bar member 12 may be manually returned against thetension of the spring [6 to its normal position shown in the drawing andclamped in position by means of the wing nut 20. The spring members 44will be adjusted by means of their supporting bolts 46 so that thetensions of the spring members will decrease in the direction in whichthe strip BI] is pulled through the straightening device. when the strip60 is to be pulled from left to right, as shown in the drawing, thedegree of tension of the spring members 44 will be gradually decreasedfrom left to right.

As the strip is pulled from left to right through the straighteningdevice, the spring member will cause the lower rollers to subject thestrip to bending, and the amount of bending will gradually decrease asthe strip moves through the straightening device because of thevariation of the tensions of the spring members 44, and the strip 60will be delivered from the device in substantially straight form.

When the material to be straightened is of heavy gauge, the tension ofthe spring members 44 may be increased simultaneously by rotating thehandle 54 to operate the screw-threaded member 50 to thereby raise theleft-hand end of the spring supporting bar 38. The tensions of thesprings may be decreased similarly by reverse rotation of thescrew-threaded member 50 when lighter gauge material is to bestraightened by the device.

"Thus, it will be seen that I have provided a mechanism which shallfunction to remove bends from a length of material and deliver a lengthof material in straight form, which shall be simple and efiicient inoperation and inexpensive to manufacture, install, operate, andmaintain.

In compliance with the requirements of the patent statutes, I have shownand described herein a preferred embodiment of my invention. It is to beunderstood, however, that the invention is not limited to the preciseconstruction shown and described, but is capable of modification by oneskilled in the art, the embodiment herein shown being merelyillustrative of the principles of my invention.

. I claim as my invention:

- 1. In a strip straightener, a first group of rollers, a supportmember, means mounting said first group of rollers in a row on saidsupport member, aqsecond group of rollers disposed substantiallyparallel with the first group of rollers and in staggered relation withthe rollers of the first group, means biasing the rollers of the secondgroup toward a position in engagement each with two adjacent rollers ofthe first group, stop means for limiting the movement of the secondgroup of rollers in the direction in which they are biased, apivotalsupport for one end of said support member, means biasing the supportmember for rotation about its pivotal support in the direction away fromthe second group of rollers, and releasable latch means for securing thesupport member in normal position with the first and second groups ofrollers in cooperative relation.

2. In a strip straightener, a first row of rollers, means mounting saidfirst row of rollers in 2.

Thus,

fixed position, a second row of rollers, means mounting said second rowof rollers substantially parallel with the first row of rollers and withthe rollers of the second row in staggered relation with the rollers ofthe first row, separate elastic biasing means for biasing each of therollers of the second row toward a position in engagement with twoadjacent rollers of the first row, separate adjusting means for theseparate biasing means for varying the biasing forces acting upon therollers of the second row separately, and means for varying the biasingmeans acting upon the rollers of the second row simultaneously.

3. In a mechanism for straightening a length of material, a first row ofrollers, means mounting said first row of rollers in a fixed position, asecond row of rollers. means mounting said second row of rollerssubstantially parallel with the first row of rollers and with therollers of the second row in staggered relation with the rollers of thefirst row, means biasing each of the rollers of the second row toward aposition in engagement with two adjacent rollers of the first row, saidbiasing means comprising a bar member disposed substantially parallel tothe plane of motion of the rollers of the second row, means pivotallymounting one end of said bar, means for supporting the other end of saidbar, a plurality of elastic members extending between the rollers of thesecond row and the bar, means for varying the tension of said elasticmembers individually, and means for variably positioning said supportingmeans to thereby vary the tension of said elastic memberssimultaneously.

4. In a strip straightener, a first group of rollers, a support member,means mounting said first group of rollers on said support member, aSecond group of rollers, means mounting said second group of rollerssubstantially parallel with the second group of rollers and in staggeredrelation with the rollers of the first group, means biasing each of therollers of the second group toward a position in engagement with twoadjacent rollers of the first group, said biasing means comprising a barmember disposed substantially parallel to the plane of motion of therollers of the second group, means pivotally mounting one end of saidbar, means for supporting the other end of said bar, a plurality ofelastic members extending between the rollers of the second group andthe bar, means for varying the tension of said elastic membersindividually, and means for variably positioning said supporting meansfor the bar to thereby vary the tension of said elastic memberssimultaneously, a pivotal support for one end of said support member,means biasing said support member for rotation about its pivotal supportin the direction away from the second group of rollers, and releasablelatch means for securing the support member in normal position with thefirst and second groups of rollers in cooperative position, wherebyrelease of said latch means will cause said first group of rollers tomove away from said second group of rollers to thereby provide a spacebetween the groups of rollers into which a strip may be inserted to beengaged by the rollers as the strip is drawn between the groups ofrollers.

CLINTON R. HANNA.

